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Israel captures key Islamic Jihad militant

Posted: Friday, November 25, 2005

JENIN, West Bank - A top Islamic Jihad militant surrendered to Israeli soldiers early Thursday, witnesses said, after a daylong siege during which army bulldozers knocked down the four-story house where he was hiding.

Dozens of troops surrounded the building in the town of Jenin in the hunt for Iyad Abu Rob. Witnesses said Abu Rob, a senior commander of Islamic Jihad in the northern West Bank, emerged from the wrecked house after midnight and was taken away by soldiers along with one of his aides.

On Wednesday, more than 70 army jeeps and 25 armored personnel carriers entered Jenin, and troops announced a curfew over loudspeakers as part of an arrest raid, residents said. Several armored personnel carriers surrounded the building where Abu Rob was believed to be hiding.

Outbreak of bird flu detected in Indonesia

BANDA ACEH, Indonesia - Indonesia has detected the first outbreak of bird flu in tsunami-ravaged Aceh province where hundreds of chickens have died from the disease, the Agriculture Ministry said Thursday.

Bird flu has now been found in 23 of Indonesia's 30 provinces, said Sjamsul Bahri, the Agriculture Ministry's director of animal health. The deadly H5N1 strain has jumped from birds to humans, killing seven people in Indonesia.

But the emergence of the virus in Aceh - where tens of thousands of people still live in crowded refugee camps following the Dec. 26 tsunami - is especially worrisome.

Bahri said chickens have been infected with the H5N1 strain of the virus in at least three districts of the province.

China on Thursday also announced the spread of bird flu to a far western region. News of the outbreak - China's 21st in recent weeks - came a day after the country confirmed its second human death from bird flu.

Opposition parties try to topple Canadian PM

TORONTO - Opposition parties introduced a no-confidence motion Thursday that is expected to topple Prime Minister Paul Martin's government and force a parliamentary election campaign during the Christmas holidays.

Canada's three opposition party leaders said their members would vote in Parliament on Monday to bring down Martin's minority government, claiming his Liberal Party no longer has the moral authority to lead the nation because of a corruption scandal.

Opposition leaders forced the no-confidence vote after Martin rejected their demands to dissolve Parliament in January and hold early elections in February. The widely expected move followed a frantic week in Ottawa, with the government making a cascade of policy announcements before its looming demise.